higgins



' Dec. 22, 1925- 1,566,599

w. L. HIGGINS FLUID REGULATOR Filed July '7, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet l M f2z l" 1 35% Qs/ z W-T MJT, attorney?) Dec. 22,1925. 1,566,599

W. L.. HIGGINS FLUID REGULATOR Filed July 7. 1922 2 sheets-sheet 2Milli/1111111111 ML Hza/w.

Patented Dec. 22, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM L. HIGGINS, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

FLUID REGULATOR.

Application filed July 7,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM' L. HIGGINS, Y

or more fluids `and one object of the invention is to provide a devicewith automatic means for limiting the fluid supply to a certainpredetermined amount which canno be exceeded.

Another object is to provide other automatically operating means forstopping the fluid supply incase the fluid consumption falls short of apredetermined amount.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide meanswhereby the supply and mixing of two or more fluids may be accuratelycontrolled.A

. In the accompanying drawings#- Figure 1 showsa side elevation,inpartial section, of the deviceg' Figure 2'is a transverse section on theline 2--2 of'Figure 1; Figure 3v is a horizontal section on `the line3-3 of Figure 1.

My fluid regulator consists ofa receptacle 10 closed ony all sides andhaving an inlet port 11 connected with a feed line 12 and an outlet port13 connected with the pipe line 14. The outlet port 13 is preferablyAformed in a. valve housing- 15 containing a ball 16- which is pressed bya coiled spring 17 into its seat 18 formed at the upper end of thehousing. In axial alin'ement with the housing' 15, I provide a plunger19 which iscarried in a bearing 20 forming a cover for thev receptacle10. Upon this bearing 20 is pivoted a lever 21 which is provided with afiat head 22-having a cam 23 on its under side adapted to contact withthe upper end of the plunger 19. At times it is advantageous to provideseveral chambers 24 in the receptacle 10 which, as bestseen in Figures 2and 3, are arranged in pairs side by side. In such a case, an outletport and valve are furnished for each chamber, and a cam 23 provided foreach of the plungers 19. lThese chambers 24 might be partitioned oil',as at 25, in which case an aperture 26 connects the one side of thechamber with the other, as seen in Figure 1.

1922. Serial No. 573,261.

An auxiliary cistern 27 is provided for each of the pipe lines 14 andsecured thereto by means of a bracket 28. A short pipe 29 connects thebottom of the cistern 27 with its pipe line 14 so that, when the fluidin the pipe line reaches a certain height, the overflow will run intothe cistern27'.

In this cistern which is covered by a lid 30 is provided a float 31which has attached thereto a piston rod 32.` rlhi's rod lreachesupwardly through the lid 30 and has adjustable connection with lanoscillating bridge 33. The end of the piston rod 32 is threaded inlorder to carry a nut 34 abutting on the under side of. the bridgey 33.By this means, the relative position bet-Ween the bridge 33 and thefloat 31 maybe adjusted. The bridge 33 has'a downwardly reaching arm 35which is lpivotally connected with a bracket 3Fonthe receptacle 10, thebracket also forming,A a guide for the piston rod 32.

The inlet'port 11 is formed in a valve housing 3'?V threaded in the`bottom of the receptacle 10 and forming a seat forfthe ball valve y38.f' On'top of this ball Vvalve is supported a plunger 39 guided inthe topof the receptacle, as at 40, and of sufiicient length to reach' up underthe inwardly projecting arm V41 of the bridge 33.l In this manner,thevplunger 39 will press the valveball 38 downwardly into its seatagainst the fluid pressure in the feed line 12'when the fluid inthecistern 27 rises suiiiciently 'to lift the float 31 and swing theoscillating bridge 33 downwardly against the plunger 39.

On a lever 42 pivoted in the receptaclelf), as at-43,`is secured asecond float 44 and this lever'42 has operative connection, as at 45,with the. plunger 39 so that, when the float 44 is lifted by the risingfluid in the receptacle 10, itwill act upon the plunger 39 to press itdownwardly andV seat the valve ball 38 and in this manner shut off the`supply of fluid into the receptacle. 1

On the upper face .of the lever head 22y may be provided graduationsintended to be read off against an indicator 46 secured on top of thereceptacle, as seen in Figure 2. By this means, the operatorwill beguided in opening and closing the outlet port 13 which' regulates thesupply of fluid into the pipe line 14.`

The operation of the device is as follows: i

The lever 21 is first turned to open'the outlet port 13 by means of thecam 23 pressing Y release the valve ball 3S and the latter will then belifted out of its seat by means of the fluidkpressure in the feed line12. rlfhe fluid will nowenter through the inlet port 11 and commence. tofill the receptacle 10 and will pass through the aperture l26 andthrough the outlet port 13 into the pipe line 14. As the receptaclegradually fills, the fluid will ultimately reach the level, indicated byline 50, in the receptacle when the float 44 will take the horizontalposition shown in Figure 1. In this position, the float compels theplunger 39 to descend against the valve ball 38 which, in thismanner,will be seated and cut off the supply of fluid from the feed line 12.When the fluid yagain begins to fall be-` low the line inthe receptacle,the float 44 will fall and, as a consequence, raise the plunger 39 whenthe force of the fluid in the feed line 12 will lift the valve ball 38out of its seat and refilling of the receptacle com- Should now thesupply of fluid be greater than the consumption, the'fluid will not flowawayrapidly enough through the Ypipe line 14, but will rise therein and,when it has reached a certain level, begin to empty into they cistern 27The float 31 will .now begin to rise and in doing so push against'thebridge 33, the left arm 41'of whichI will then compel the plunger 39 todescend against the valve ball 38 and closerthe inlet port 11. In thismanner, the supply ofthe fluid is always lautomatically regulated by theconsumption thereof and no'waste can occur.

In casethe'fiuid supplied by the'feed line 1'2has 'to be mixed withatmospheric air, thev openings 51 areprovided in the casing'beneath thereceptacle adjacent the outlet port 13.

It will be evident that different kinds of fluids may be admitted to oneandthe same pipe line to be mixed therein if supplied through individualfeed Alines 12y entering -the separate kcompartments 24 provided in thereceptacle 10.' In case the mixture should be made of unequal amountsVof the different Y fluids contained in the mixture, this may be f videdin its bottom with an inlet port and an A outlet port, a manuallyoperable valve for the outlet port, a valve for the inlet port,

the inlet port having direct connection with a feed vlineand the outletport having direct connection with a pipe line, float-controlled meanswithin the receptacle for closing the inlet valve, a cistern closed tothe receptacle and the fleedlline and having a conduit in communicationwith the pipe line, a float iny the cistern, and connections between thefloat and the inlet valveto lclose said valve undery K pressure-ofliquid in the cistern.

2. In a fluid regulator, a fluid receptacley having inlet and outletports each provided withv a valve, a pipe lineV into which the outletport discharges, means for closing the inlet valve comprising a closedcistern having a conduit in' communication withl the pipe line, a floatin the cistern, and elements connectingV the float with the inlet valvewhereby the inlet valveV is Yadapted to `be closed upon the float risingin the vcistern actuated by the back flowmof the lfluid into the cisterncaused by the consumptionV of the fluid inthe pipe line being smallerthan'the discharge'into itfrom the outlet port.

3. In a fluid regulator,'a receptacle having inlet and outlet ports eachprovided with av ball valve, a pipelinev into which the outletV portdischarges, means for closing the inlet valve comprising a closedcistern having a conduit in communication with the pipe line, a float inthe cistern, a plunger in the receptacle mounted in axialalinement`vvith the inlet valve and contacting with its ball, a lever fulcrumedon the receptacle and con! tacting with the plunger, and an actuating'rod connecting the lever with the float where-' byy the inlet valve isadapted to be closed upon the float rising inthe cistern actuatedv bytheback flow ofthe fluid into the cistern caused bythe consumption ofthe fluid in the pipe line being smaller than the dischargey intoitfromI the outlet'po-rt.'

In testimony whereof I affix my signature. Y fWILLIAM L. HIGGINS. [ns]

